Welcome to our new Keepers Corner! We are glad you came to visit! We are really excited to begin this new venture of sharing with the Keepers Community. Keepers was first begun with the goal of encouraging children to learn new things, working with moms and daughters and dads and sons. It has always been about families learning together, building strong bonds. We plan to do a lot of posting about projects, crafts and skills, character traits, and more. We also want to share lots about families and family life because God created families, and families are eternal. And, you know, families coming together build strong churches.

We really want you, our friends, to post here too. We want to hear about what you are working on, your club’s achievements, and any special blessings. Please feel free to send us your information, and we will post it for you. If you have a blog for your club, we will be happy to add it to our list posted in the right hand column. If you have questions, please email us at sales@keepersofthefaith.com. Your ideas and input are always welcome. Enjoy the site and let us know what you think!

Iris folding is a fun and easy paper folding technique that originated in Holland. It’s an excellent way to use paper scraps, used envelopes, left over wrapping paper, etc. The texture and depth of the card or scrapbook page you create are just amazing! You start with a simple pattern; many basic templates are available for free online.

I think I’ll rename this meeting to snacktivity and drinks! Each family was asked to bring enough supplies for every club member to make a creative food project. Everybody’s creative juices were flowing!!! There were many edible art creations like chocolate covered cookies turned into bear heads, olives became penguins, cheese sticks turned into pencils, teddy grahams drove mini chocolate bar cars, and apples became frog heads. The cupcake selection included...butterflies, lambs, and owls!

We have girls from five to fourteen years old. For our quilling project, I wanted to make it as fun and economical as possible, so I purchased a multicolored packet of quilling paper for each girl and made a quilling tool for each one as well. This I did by purchasing wooden dowels from the craft store and sawing them down to the appropriate length. I then hammered the sharp end of a tapestry needle into the end of each dowel and cut off the tip of the eye to make a slot for the paper.

We began the meeting by blending a hot chocolate recipe in a food processer. Different club members assisted adding various ingredients. Once complete several girls helped divide the big bowl of cocoa mix into personal size bags, which would later be decorated with paper toppers. Then the mom in charge demonstrated pouring chocolate onto the top of plastic spoons instead of completely immersing in chocolate. This not only uses half the amount of chocolate but it is also less messy. She had various toppings for the members to choose from to decorate their spoons.

Our club joined professional artist Elva Hurst for a “chalk talk” in her barnyard studio located locally. Our senses were engaged through music, storytelling, and Elva’s amazing chalk artistry. She has professionally pre-recorded a selection of inspirational messages that you may choose. Then she illustrates the story right before your eyes. Her website is www.elvaschalkart.com. The club paid for the chalk talk but asked each member to supply the additional fee for a chalk lesson afterward.

The 20 Legacy teens recently earned the Archery badge. Safety and bow and arrow parts were introduced before the Archers nocked their first arrow. All the teens tried out the various recurve and long bows aiming at paper targets on hay bales. Everyone’s shooting improved each week! We learned the importance of grip, stance, a full draw, the anchor, release and follow through. Best of all, we exposed the teens to a unique and fun sport they were enthusiastic to try—many for the first time!

Today we had our monthly Keepers at Home meeting and we focused on getting our pottery award. My friend who does her own pottery taught us the different styles and techniques in pottery making. I knew she was an excellent teacher, Mookie and Bubby loved her art class at our homeschool coop, but this was my first time seeing first hand how amazing she is!
She had the girls make a pinch pot, a coiled pot and then showed them how to throw a pot on a potter’s wheel.

Our neighbor Amish ladies joined the fun to teach our Keepers Club how to make doughnuts! We asked everyone to come prepared with aprons on and hair up. Each member was going to be able to take a dozen doughnuts home so we asked them to bring containers as well. The Amish ladies had mixed up a couple of batches before all the members arrived so some could be rising. This enabled us to get started right away. Since this was going to be a messy meeting we held it in the garage and outside. No regrets, because oil and powdered sugar can make a huge mess with many helpers.

Who said finger painting is for kids?! My sister-in-law gave finger painting a whole new meaning! She made it look so fun and beautiful even the moms wanted to try! She showed the club different ideas how to use your fingers/hands to create unique pieces of art marked with your own print. We could use our thumb prints to create penguins or owls, or our whole finger to create a scarecrow or snowman scene. The amazing flower (resembling a peony) seemed to be a favorite.

Three sessions were taught to the high school Contenders guys (4). The sessions included safety, clean and attractive food prep and presentation. Burgers, chicken, pork/kabobs were grilled. Putting together a burger bar, marinade for the kabobs, and side dishes appropriate for the various meals were also incorporated. We also made veggie and dessert on the propane grill.

Our Keeper's group just formed last October. A woman who raised her daughter with the Keeper’s curriculum offered a meeting to help other women start their own groups in our area. This was a huge blessing. Several of the members of our group originated from that meeting.
We decided to make Christmas Candied Apples. These appealing, old-fashioned treats hearken back to yesteryear. We also liked them because they are rarely made anymore. Anyone can make caramel apples; candied meant calling in the big guns!

I have a most wonderful club post to share with you! I just had to call this club leader personally because I had so many questions to discover just how she managed to do this. What is this? Every dad who had a daughter in the Keepers Club made a beautiful wooden hope chest for her! Wow! Can you imagine this? Every man learned a valuable skill in building a fine wooden piece of furniture, and every daughter received a hope chest that her own father made for her, which will always be a valuable keepsake to her.